The ABC and Australian music

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The ABC is proud to celebrate our role as one of the biggest supporters of Australian music and musicians. Across all of our platforms and at all times of day, we’re broadcasting a mix of Australian music touching on many different musical eras and genres. Today we play the highest proportion of Australian music of any broadcaster and we’re committed to playing even more.

ABC music radio networks are estimated to collectively reach more than three million people each week across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, with millions more listening in regional Australia and many more connecting to ABC video, digital and social content. When it comes to digital radio (DAB+), ABC Jazz and Double J enjoy the largest audiences of any Australian digital-only networks. (source: GfK and Xtra Insights)

Over the airwaves and increasingly via digital networks, we are helping to promote more Australian music to more listeners all over the country.

The proportion of Australian music played across ABC radio networks has increased over the last 15 years. On average, ABC networks play more than 50% Australian music – ranging from 100% on triple j Unearthed, to 58% on triple j, 51% on Classic FM and 29% on ABC Jazz.

Source: ABC annual reports 2003-4 to 2017-18

Source: ABC Annual Report 2017-18

Beyond airtime, the ABC’s long-term support for Australian music extends to recording, publishing and distribution through the independent record label, ABC Music, landmark music events such as triple j’s One Night Stand, and the identification of new talent with initiatives such as the ABC Young Performers Awards (pictured above) and triple j Unearthed.

The result is that we are consistently nurturing new Australian talent and helping to pave the way for emerging artists to find their voice on other media through both commercial and community outlets.

We’re just one part of a robust Australian music and media ecosystem that includes other important supporting organisations such as community radio, digital radio and online platforms but, when you consider the number of artists for whom the ABC has been a career launch-pad, the volume of Australian music that gets played across our platforms, and the breadth and depth of genres that the ABC supports, it’s an investment in Australian culture worth keeping.

In October, the ABC formally outlined this contribution to Australian music in our submission to the Inquiry into the Australian Music Industry by the Federal Parliament’s Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts. Here, we’ve outlined some highlights of the ABC’s contribution to Australian music below, along with some special stories from some of Australia’s leading musicians about the impact the ABC has had on their careers.

Ausmusic Month

Ausmusic Month is the leading annual music event held by the ABC in support of Australian music. Every November for more than 20 years we have focussed the attention of audiences on the breadth and depth of talent in the Australian music industry.

Australian performers, new and old, are featured across the ABC radio networks, on ABC TV and through our digital content. In 2018, this included the broadcast of the compelling Don’t Stop the Music three-part TV series on the transformative influence of music education, the launch of the new live music TV show, The Set, and a special Australian composers segment on ABC Classic FM. And of course, it wouldn’t have been the same without the Ausmusic Month staples – triple j’s J Awards and the Ausmusic T-Shirt Day.

Following audiences to digital

The digital disruption to the Australian music industry has been rapid as mass audiences fragment and break away to listen and watch music on platforms built to cater for specific genres. However, new technology has also given the music industry the opportunity to diversity and innovate. For the ABC, this has meant we can deliver more specialised music services across multiple channels. The ABC now has 4 digital-only music stations – ABC Country, ABC Jazz, triple j Unearthed and Double J – and ABC Jazz and Double J have become Australia’s highest-rating digital-only networks. The ABC has also invested in development of its mobile apps – ABC Listen, Kids Listen and the triple j app – making it easier for listeners to discover new music and enjoy the breadth of music content we offer.

ABC Music is a leading independent record label in the Australian market and the most highly awarded and critically acclaimed in its key genres – many of which are overlooked by other publishers. It frequently provides the foundations for chart success and in 2017/18 triple j’s Like a Version 13 and Hottest 100 Volume 25 both topped the ARIA music chart, while The Wiggles Nursery Rhymes 2 album reached number 3. At the same time, ABC Classics had six top 10 releases in the annual ARIA Core Classical chart, and two top 10 releases on the Classical/Crossover chart.

Partnerships

Guy Sebastian as part of Don’t Stop the Music

The ABC has a long history of partnering and recording with some of Australia’s leading music organisations, including our symphony orchestras and opera companies. These relationships, which can include regular recordings and the live broadcast of major Australian music competitions, support performers to reach a broad national audience, beyond the people seated in the concert hall. Symphony Australia has estimated that for every person attending a classical music concert in Australia, a further 20 are reached through ABC Classic FM concert broadcasts.

Education

The ABC has a long history of supporting music education in schools and continues to be involved in a number of initiatives to promote the benefits of music education for children, their families and the broader community. Most recent is the Don’t Stop the Music series developed as part of 2018 Ausmusic month which sits alongside anational campaign, run by the ABC in partnership with the Salvation Army and Musica Viva encourages Australians to donate their old musical instruments for use in schools at a time when research shows 63% of Australian primary schools offer no classroom music.

Supporting new Australian music

AMY SHARK

Queensland singer-songwriter Amy Shark had been trying for years to get a break in the music business. She started playing in an all-girl punk band in her 20s. Then she was playing covers in bars on the Gold Coast just to get money to record her own songs. She was pursuing her dream, but not making much progress. That was until her song ‘Adore’ was added to triple j rotation in 2016. The offers from labels and managers came flowing in. About six months later, ‘Adore’ came in at number two in the triple j Hottest 100 and she picked up Best Pop Release at the 2017 ARIA Awards. Her 2018 debut album, Love Monster debuted at number 1 in Australia. In just two years, Amy Shark has become a major name in Australian music – dominating festival stages here and overseas and garnering awards, doing it all with a dedication to honest, heart-on-your-sleeve pop music.

HILLTOP HOODS

Adelaide’s Hilltop Hoods were more than a decade into existence and onto their third album, The Calling, when they first got a taste of the national acclaim they now enjoy. The first single from that album, ‘Testimonial Year’, didn’t really connect, but they followed it up with ‘The Nosebleed Section’. “That was definitely the turning point for us,” MC Suffa, one-third of Hilltop Hoods, told triple j in 2009 about the song. “When triple j started playing it, that was our break. We started getting a lot of festival gigs, show offers, stuff like that.” The success of that song – voted in at number nine in the 2003 triple j Hottest 100 – helped make The Calling, the first local hip-hop album to go platinum. The Hilltop Hoods have proven, via five number one albums in Australia, eight ARIA awards, and tours around the world, that Australians can take the US-born genre and give it a fun, unique flavour.

The ABC has grown remarkably since it launched on 1 July 1932. This is a snapshot of our achievements, programs and personalities and celebrates the ABC's contribution to Australian life for more than 80 years.